bookstores_077_mac.jpg Susan Holmes and Rob Glazier, visiting from Michigan, browse through books at "A Clean Well Lighted Place for Books", along Van Ness in SF, while Harry Potter hats hang around the store to promote the upcoming release of the next Harry Potter book, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince". Local independent bookstores, which are likely to see their monthly revenues spike by 10 to 30 percent just due to Potter sales, a welcome event during the normally-slow summer season. Many will be holding Potter parties on Friday night. Suggest photo that includes the HP decorations and staff taking phone orders for the book, or selling copies of the older HP books, or talking with customers about the book. 7/13/05 San Francisco, Ca Michael Macor / San Francisco Chronicle Mandatory Credit for Photographer and San Francisco Chronicle/ - Magazine Out less

bookstores_077_mac.jpg Susan Holmes and Rob Glazier, visiting from Michigan, browse through books at "A Clean Well Lighted Place for Books", along Van Ness in SF, while Harry Potter hats hang around the store ... more

Photo: Michael Macor

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Where books are sold. Chronicle Graphic

Where books are sold. Chronicle Graphic

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Harry Potter is working his magic at small bookshops / Independent stores expect a sales boost from the coming release, even at full price

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Wingardium leviosa! And revenues rise by 20 percent for Bay Area independent booksellers!

It's not quite as simple as reciting a spell to make things levitate, but the release of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" at midnight Friday is likely to work magic on the bottom line of independent Bay Area bookstores.

By now -- with the sixth volume in the Harry Potter series -- the scenario has become familiar. Gazillions of eager book buyers, both children and adults. Heavy advance orders. Midnight Potter parties at bookstores. A deluge of sales in the first week or two, followed by a sharp drop.

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Retailers of all kinds -- from bookstore chains and Amazon.com to supermarkets and warehouse stores -- hope to make money from the 10.8 million copies of the new Potter book that are being published in the United States by Scholastic Inc.

But the Potter release is particularly welcome among small independent bookstores, for which Potter can mean the difference between a profitable and unprofitable season. Summer is often a slow time for bookstores, with schools out of session and customers away on vacation.

"Harry Potter has actually kept bookstores open," said Allison Reid, who has ordered 250 copies of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" for Diesel, her store in Oakland's Rockridge neighborhood. "There have been some bookstores just hanging on by their fingertips until October, and Harry Potter has kept them bankrolled."

Bay Area independent bookstores -- like others around the country -- were hit hard by the spread of Barnes & Noble and Borders superstores in the mid-'90s. A second blow came with the arrival of Amazon and other Internet sales outlets. Bookstores closed in droves: Membership in the American Booksellers Association fell from 4,000 companies a decade ago to about 1,700 today.

Over the past four years, that attrition has slowed, and the share of the market held by independent bookstores has stabilized at about 10 percent, according to the association.

But independent stores still are challenged by the discounts offered by their larger competitors. Amazon, for instance, is selling the Potter book for $17.99, 40 percent below the list price of $29.99.

Some local bookstores have responded with Harry Potter discounts of their own. Cody's Books in Berkeley is selling the book at a 30 percent discount, and A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books in San Francisco offered a 30 percent discount for advance purchases.

But most small bookstores can't afford to give steep discounts. Instead, they're playing on their strengths, which include a feeling of community. Many are hosting Potter parties on Friday night. Some are donating part of their sales revenue to local schools.

At Towne Center Books in Pleasanton, customers who order copies in advance can have the store donate 20 percent of the price to a school of their choice. Towne Center is also hosting a party from 10:30 to midnight on Friday that will include trivia contests, skits and a showing of the first Harry Potter movie in the parking lot.

"You can go to Costco the next morning and save a few dollars, or come to us and get your book at 12:01," said Judy Wheeler, owner of Towne Center. "Which is more fun? If you want to get into the excitement of everyone reading this book, that's not something you can get at Target. There's more to life than a discount, and a lot of people understand that."

In Oakland's Montclair neighborhood, Debi Echlin plans to transform A Great Good Place for Books into a version of Platform 9 3/4, the invisible train platform where Potter and his fellow students depart for Hogwarts School.

Echlin, who has ordered 800 copies of the book, is spending $1,000 on a party that will include cookies, costumes and prizes. "This book is being sold almost everywhere, even at supermarkets, so it is a little more challenging to make sure the customers come here to get it," she said.

The immense demand for the Potter book poses an inventory challenge for small bookstores. They need enough copies to satisfy demand during the first weekend, yet if they order too many, they will be saddled with freight costs for returning the unsold volumes.

"Ordering 250 books is a scary figure for a store our size, because we have to pay in 30 days," said Reid, the owner of Diesel.

"There is a slight fear in the back of my mind. I feel confident with 150, but you never know. A lot of my customers may be on vacation and may buy the book there. On the other hand, I've had several people order two copies because they don't want their children fighting over it. So we may see an increase in sales over the last time."

With the last Potter book in 2003, many small bookstores ran short because of distribution problems and ended up frantically driving to Costco for copies they could re-sell.

This time, the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association -- a trade group of 240 bookstores -- has ordered its own stock of 1,500 Potter books in case members need extra copies over the weekend. "That will keep us out of Costco," said Wheeler of Towne Center Books.

Although the Potter book will bring a spike in sales to almost all independent booksellers, the relative impact is likely to be biggest with the smaller stores.

Cody's owner Andy Ross said the previous Potter books caused monthly sales revenue to spike by 5 to 10 percent at his two stores. Philip Prock of Books Inc. in San Francisco predicted his nine stores will see revenue rise by 10 or 12 percent.

Meanwhile, Reid predicted that Diesel's monthly revenue would spike by about 20 percent. And Towne Center Books expects a jump -- without the benefit of spells or brooms -- of 30 percent.

Where books are sold
Share of total U.S. book sales in 2004:
Large chain stores 25%
Other 25%
Book clubs 15%
Internet 12%
Independent bookstores 9%
Mass merchandise stores 7%
Warehouse stores 7%
Source: Ipsos BookTrends
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